Well, actually, rhinoceros beetles might make good mounts. They're capable of carrying 100x their own weight and individually they weigh about as much as a mouse. They feed on fruit and decaying vegetable matter. Adding in the assumption that they can be trained relatively easily with Compel and Influence spells, and you've got a fairly decent riding critter for small rodents. The larvae eat rotting wood and such and the beetles can take up to 2 years to reach full size so you couldn't crank them out en masse even if you could train that many.
Pigeons and starlings. Pigeons are big, strong and comparatively stupid. They can carry an armored mouse and are the preferred mount of the Imperial Cavalry.
Starlings are smaller, faster and smarter. They tend to bond with a single trainer and generally won't carry anyone else. They also aren't as strong and can't really carry much cargo besides the pilot. Starling riders need to be small and lean and travel light or they'll exhaust their mount too quickly. The Imperial Flyers (a strange group of scouts and messengers) prefer starlings to pigeons for their faster reflexes and increased agility. They're smart birds and can learn a number of tricks if they like their trainer. Due to their intelligence, it's very dangerous to try and fly one that doesn't like you... magical compulsions can help point them in the right direction, but may interfere with their ability to fly properly. And, of course, they'll leave or shake you off as soon as the compulsion ends. But they can be marvelous mounts if they get along with their trainer.
While pigeons are normally kept in coops maintained by the mice, it's common for a starling flyer to allow his mount relatively free reign, only summoning it when it's needed (usually with a particular whistle). Again, bonding with the bird is essential for pulling this relationship off.
Crows are too damn smart, the bird-trainers say. You can't trust them to do (or not do) anything when you're not right there controlling them. This makes them too dangerous. Worse, a handful of the crows in the Empire can actually talk in pidgin english. This is probably due to them scavenging the corpses of dead talking mice, but it may also just be due to their native intelligence. As such, they're regarded as pests and kept away from the inner territories, but they've never been enough of a threat for the military to be called out against them.
Turtles are good if you want to travel on the Great Lake (perhaps call it Endless Waters?). Sometimes a group of upperclass fishermen will find and compel a turtle to let them sit on its back and fish, but it takes a good mage (or two) to make sure that the turtle doesn't suddenly dive out of under them.
Larger animals should get a Size bonus to resist Influence and Compel spells. Perhaps something like 1/3 of your Size rating? Or Size - 5 (minimum zero)? Basically, I don't want mice to be able to Compel a deer... although that might not be a bad thing to allow... I just wouldn't want them to go get a deer and use it like some super war machine to destroy a mouse-town.
Posted by Kiz at May 26, 2005 05:24 AMCommentsPost a comment